The idea feels like sci-fi because you’re so used to it, imagining ads gone feels like asking to outlaw gravity. But humanity had been free of current forms of advertising for 99.9% of its existence. Word-of-mouth and community networks worked just fine. First-party websites and online communities would now improve on that.
The traditional argument pro-advertising—that it provides consumers with necessary information—hasn’t been valid for decades.
You’d put a lot of people out of work.
Any progress does that. The issue is not that there’s less work, the issue is that capitalism makes that into a bad thing.
Less work should mean more leisure, more time for hobbies and passion projects, not reduced living standards.
A lot of people have jobs that aren’t really necessary, and exist so that the working class doesn’t revolt too hard under capitalism.